New Britain Herald Newspaper, March 28, 1929, Page 19

Two Phases of the Kimes Brothers Spectacular Career. The Office Scene Goes Back to the Childhood of Matt and George, When They Are Said to Have Told an Oklahoma Banker That They Would Some Day Return and Rob His Bank. The Upper Part of the Drawing Shows the Boys as They Ap- peared When They Made Good Their Threat. HEN the smoke of the phan- tom boy bandits cleared away, Western bank officials, from the Canadian border to the Rio Grande, breathed a sigh of relief. George and Matthew Kimes are behind the bars of the Oklahoma State Penitentiary for life and the power of their wicked, quick-shooting gang is broken. These two soft-voiced, hard-eyed, baby-faced youngsters staged as many spectacular robberies within a few months as were accredited to the fa- mous Jessa James gang during its en- tire career. Once they held up three banks in Beggs, Oklahoma, at the same time and got away. Again they robbed a bank, walked nonchalantly across the street, robbed another, and whizzed out of town in high-power cars. They kidnaped sheriffs, tied up bank tellers, gave away money as carelessly a3 they stole it, but in the end their audacity brought about their down- fall Now George Kimes has a twenty- five-year prison sentence and the pos- eibility of a fifty-year sentence ahead of that. Matt is a “lifer” and lucky to escape the electric chair for murder. ‘With the two boys who were called the “ghost riders of the prairie States,” finally frustrated, attention has been turned to their tragic family back- ground. ' Their two pretty girl-wives will never see them in freedom beyond prison walls, their father and mother are dead because of their banditry, and their two sisters face the world alone. Haunted by fear of the law that was closing in on his sons, the father was shot and killed while trying to flee from officers who were approaching his home. The mother, unable to bear the strain, died heartbroken. Her fu- neral was attended by two solitary mourners, her two daughters. These two girls, known throughout the Southwest as the sisters of the famous outlaws, form the most striking part of the present l;m:lure. They have determined to vindicate the family name. “We will show the world,” said Nellie Kimes, the elder, recently, “that the Kimes have good stuff in them. We will make the world respect the Kimes name.” Thus the picture, as the smoke of the phantom boy bandits clears away and their exciting deeds become rele- atedl to the past. Eighteen-year-old Nellie Kimes is dependent on the money she can make as an entertainer in_an oil-field dance hall. She is shielding her fourteen-year-old sister, Jessie, who is living where the mor- bidly curious cannot find her. Nellie is determined that Jessie shall not suf- fer because of the family publicity. There age three astonishing and sig- nificant aspects of the Kimes brothers’ pid-fire excursions into crime. First, i d that George and Matt made up their minds while attending school in short trousers, that they would follow in the footsteps of the famous desperadocs, now romantic fig- ures in early Oklahoma history. The exciting stories of “Billy the Kid,” Al Jennings and Jesse James, supplemented by Wild West fiction, stimulated their imaginations. Secondly, the boys gave evidence of developing into anything but bold, bad men. In fact they early won the reputation of be- ing village sheiks, adept in the art of “queening,”” hair plastering, and jazz step- ping. They were typical young ‘“cake-eaters,” but even then their popularity indicated that they were natural leaders. The third aspect is prob- ably the most interesting of all. The boys followed the old Robin Hood tradi- tion, robbing the rich but refusing to take anything from the poor. Even in their bank robber. ies they refused to take money that was mnot insured, and other money that they thought might belong to “widows and or phame.” Because in their own minds they justified their crimes by creating false ideals, and because of their instinct for leader- ship, they were able to organize and hold together a loyal gang which aided them in exe- cuting their plots. When the boys were still quite young, the Kimes family moved from the Ozark Moun- tains of Arkansas to the prosperous little town of Beggs, Oklahoma. The family soon became a part of the life of the lit- tle community, attracting little no- tice as they lived in the quiet man- ner of other law-abiding citizens of the town. The first unusual act attributed George Kimes Photographed When He Was Beggs, Oklahoma, and Before He Became s Robber. the S Expression. % L4 A % “hantom Revealing the Two Sisters Who Are Fighting to | Come Back and the Strange Narrative of the Kimes Brothers Who Terrorized Two-Gun Sheriffs and Bank Officials. to the Kimes boys, was later re- gfl called by residents of Beggs. [t is said that one day Mattthew and George, still in short trousers, walked into the leading bank of Beggs and approached the president with the question: “Mister, how much money is there in this bank?” They received a casual answer from the busy man: *‘Oh, thousands of dollars.” Little significance was attached then to their rather astonishing reply: “Well, some day we're coming back to rob this bank.” But as citizens now view the story, they feel that the boyish threat re- vealed an unfortunate state of adoles. cent mind. They regret that some ef- fort was not made to direct the boys’ imaginative energy into constructive 1An Exclusive Photograph of Nellie Kime: ng i Support Herself and Her Little Sister. Nellic Kimes Has Been Worl me fired the gang to daring ex- ploits never before d d of. Matt was soon the rir r and Ge 3 his trusty confederate Curiously enough in tneir first m Jor crime, they made good the th of their boyhood. They the bank at Beggs, in m e several years be e was no caus & med. ployees and cus After ordering ef omers into a vault. Mrs. Matthew Kimes (left) and Mre. George Kimés ‘Who fAave Refuced To Divorce Their Husbands Despite the Faer T They May Never See Them Out of Prison Again. channels while they were still youn Such an effort was not made, a ently, and no further attention was paid to the Kimes boys until they wera arrested for petty thieverv and thrown into jail for a short senten It was there that they met Ray Ter-ill, a no. torious bank robber. When they were released from jail, they schooled in the tricks of the trade a eligible to join Terrill's gang. ] wasted no more time on small ] They were ready for the res The fresh enthusiasm of thcir newest they made their hau! of $5,000 and ecs- aped This should have been the S st that a nev bandi ory about to Here were two f pended ur warning to was tinguisk e Th hank rc Newspaper Feature Service, 1929, A HA17717007 nd Her Sister, Jessie, Made Recently. an Oklahoma Dance Hall to Texas, most of which police believed were committed by the Kimes bandits. Having eluded their pursuers for five 2 triumphant over the success r first stick-up, the brothers with the gang to pull off one t daring robberies in his. plan included the sin bbing of three banks m two banks they too he clock of the third bank was fortunately three minutes slow and before the gang could make their at- tack, officials were warned by pistols fired from across the street. It was during this raid that Matt is said to have calmly stated his plat- plotted We are not ordinary bandi We are just giving back to the needy some of the money the rich have taken from he was given little chance to carry out his plans after that. By his time the outraged citizens of every ate in the Southwest had organized in their determination to capture peradoe ce of the bandits sug- n of retreat as they he Ozark Moun- ey were finally ¥ men who had I aw, Oklahoma ght that Matt proved he no ‘“sissie cake-eater.” Single ded he made prisoners of two of and wounded the third 1g that his would-be captors rom home, and one, a famous Indian b ounded, Matt ideal of bandit g each one of the captured 0 bill to “get home,” and a the only food at hand at the wounded man gets the tal treatment and p a newspaper. I'll he outlaws d er into d from his woun hunted on a ct if they v might not did not provide instructions for escape e e e N N - A\ [ SSRE Matthew Kimes, the Youthful Lead- er of the Gang that Robbed Banks from the Dakotas to Texas. He Is Now Serving a Life Sentence in the Oklahoma State Penitentiary. This Photograph Was Taken About the Time He Began His Career as a Desperado. from the trap carefully laid by officials of the law on this night. The boys stepped into it and the police smiled with satisfaction when they were apparently safe in prison. Officials did not bask in comfortable security for long, however. The trials took place at once and George was given twenty-five years. The charge against Matt was much graver, and while his fate was still undecided, an event took place ch ence again ter- rified the Southwest. One dark night six masked men stormed the Salisaw, Oklahoma, jail, beat the guards unconscious and r leased the leader of their gang. Almost immediately, the daring robberies were resumed. During the months that fol- lowed Matt eluded his captors with mysterious cleverness. On one occasion he walked, undis- guised, down the main street of a little town. He passed three sheriffs who were discussing a poster decorated with his likeness, which also offered a re- ward for his capture “dead or alive.” He was apparently delighted when one of the men recognized him. It was another adventure to Matt. He jumped into a car standing by the curb and sped away. It was not until he neared the outskirts of the village that he dis- covered that he had unwittingly com- mitted a crime not ineluded in his schedule. He had not only stolen an automobile, but he had kidnaped s sleeping baby in the back seat. At the risk of being caught he turned back and placed the child, still sleeping, in a churchyard. It was later found un- harmed by the frantic parents. At times when hunters were too close upon him for comfort the elusive outlaw found it necessary to resort to tangible means of deception. To throw a pack of bloodhounds off the scent, he once smeared oil and tar on his shoes as he made his way across the desert. About this time, Matt had cause to realize the tragedy he and his brother had brought upon their family. He heard somehow that his mother was dying. Under cover of night he went 5 old home and asked her forgive- She died a few hours after the visit of her wayward son. Again his heart ruled his head, and he defied the law by going to her grave and placing his offering of wild flowers on the earth. It is rather ironical that the boy bandjt’s love of beauty was finally sponsible for his capture, and tk desperado who had stolen thousands of dollars had less than three hundred dollars at the time. The splendor of the Grand Canyon lured him to a dan- gerous spot where he was easily penned in by a posse . as usual, was trail- ing him. The qui of his final surrender offered to the exploits of outlaw career. For the first time in his adventure- Matt faced fear—fear of the air. And as he stood on life he learned that the r who had made such a gle to uphold the family heroic st E so fallen into the clutches n: 2, although implicated with 1l “buddies” in an oil field onement her the for her able to secure of her trial. opportunity to court defense, and a ¢ har contention that sor No longer are Matt and George col- orful desperadons at large in the wide open spaces. In their last adventure, the boy bandits are j v pris- oners in a drab, gray w